Here’s How Apple Is Going To Bring Week-Long Battery Life To iPhone, iPad

Even though Apple makes every new iOS device considerably better than the last and, by some miracle, thinner and lighter than the preceding model, one common quibble that consumers have is in the waning battery life. Even though the likes of the iPhone and iPad excel in most departments, battery retention is not one of them, and as such, users are often left with a well-built, stylish, and feature-rich device that won’t power up. Apparently, though, Tim Cook’s company is joining forces with Intelligent Energy in a collaborative effort that may see iDevices, as well as other products like the MacBook, keep going for up to a week by embedding fuel cells into them.

The report manifests from British tabloid the Daily Mail, and apparently, this new technology could revolutionize the way our beloved gadgets consume and retain power. In essence, the fuel cells are capable of efficiently turning chemical, fuel-based energy into electricity, and although these secret rendezvouses between Apple and Intelligent Energy are only at discussion stage, the potential effect on the digital industry could be unprecedented.

Not only is the system incredibly efficient in keeping devices like the iPhone, iPad and MacBook running for considerably longer than is currently possible, but the process is also apparently green and environmentally-friendly. It sounds too good to be true, and in the case of the Daily Mail, it usually is. However, UK-based Intelligent Energy does have a big-time partner interested in utilizing some of its patented technologies, and according to an U.S.-based informant in contact with the Mail, that company is Apple.

Joe O’Sullivan, a former Apple employee, is now COO at Intelligent Energy, and as such, this report may well have been cooked up through circumstantial evidence. However, if there is any truth in these claims, we’d certainly welcome the idea of products running for days on end, and keenly await further coverage on these claims.

The likes of Intel’s Haswell processors have given the MacBook range a new lease of life, adding hours of battery over the preceding, Ivy Bridge-powered variants. But with Apple and Intelligent Energy, we’re talking leaps as opposed to small steps, and with one-week battery life, the days of scrambling for wall charger would be all-but over.